Paper Waste

Mindfulness

Being aware of waste you create


Final Solution
‘Paper Waste Mindfulness’
By being aware of the issue and being
mindful when producing and consuming
paper, together we can minimise our use
of paper and only use what is necessary
When looking at all the options for
solutions surrounding paper waste,
it appears that it takes many steps in
order to create less waste with
paper.
This is why the proposed final
solution for paper waste in school
environments is a whole-school
program that will be referred to as
‘Paper Waste Mindfulness’.
Identifying the issue
Imagine you are in a school. Look around and what do you
see?
While working in a school environment, the author of this website noticed that a
number of paper documents, such as those seen in the picture to the left, were
printed out in copies of 30 or more, when most of the time classes had a
maximum of 25 students. They thought to themselves about the additional pages
of paper and how unnecessary waste was being created in order to ensure spare
worksheets were printed. When looking around, they realised that there was lots
of paper around the school that had single-use purposes and paper that was not
being recycled properly, with recycling and rubbish bins having mixed papers and
plastics. The amount of paper seen everywhere, with a poor recycling system in
place worried the author as they knew that paper waste is an issue but one that
can be managed if handled correctly. Because of this, the author decided to look
into the issue and create a ‘Paper Waste Mindfulness’ initiative that helps local
and nationwide schools manage their paper waste.
Evidence

Evidence of paper waste includes;

- Unused paper lying around the

school premises
- Unnecessary extra print outs
- Paper and cardboard in regular
rubbish bins
- Plastics and other non-
recyclable materials in the
paper recycling bin
- Single-use paper
Image retrieved from
https://greenwavegazette.org/15504/showcase/are
-your-good-intentions-counteracting-recycling/

considered included;
Other Possible
Solutions
These solutions were considered but
rejected as while they are effective,
would not be nearly as effective without
having the mindset that comes with the
‘Paper Waste Mindfulness’ initiative
Other solutions that were
- Paper recycling services such as Clean
Away (2022a) and Nationwide Waste
-
Solutions (2022)
Participating in Clean Up Australia Day
and partnering with Clean Up (2022) in
ensuring paper waste around the school
gets disposed of correctly
- Donating shredded paper to local
businesses
- Using digital technologies as a paper
alternative
Final Outcome:
Creating the ‘Paper Waste
Mindfulness’ initiative

‘Paper Waste
Mindfulness’
This initiative is being created and plans to
be implemented in local schools in order to
educate students, teachers and
administrative staff on the issues
surrounding paper waste and the steps that
each person can take to reduce their
production and consumption of paper
This initiative is going to be carried
out by first educating members of
the community, such as teachers,
students, and their families, on the
topic of sustainability and how the
production and consumption of
excess paper environmentally
impacts the local community.
These members of the community
will then be taught effective ways in
which they can reduce the amount
of paper they use.
Ways to reduce your consumption of paper

These include, but are not limited to;

- Correctly recycling paper
- Donating used paper to local businesses
- Reusing paper and cardboard in new ways, such as drawing or
writing notes on the backside of paper, or using paper as a
tool while gardening
- Using paper alternatives where possible, such as whiteboards
and digital technologies
- Being aware of the paper you are producing and consuming -
Think ‘do I really need to print this?’ or ‘can I use something
else instead?’
 PMI of ‘Paper Waste Mindfulness’
Positive
- Education of this program
can be linked to
sustainability cross-
curriculum priorities within
schools
- Members of community will
become aware of the current
climate issues
- People that are aware of the
waste they are creating will
be more likely to reduce,
reuse and recycle their paper
materials
Negative
- Education process may be
lengthy and difficult to
implement
- Costs of process may be
expensive
- Wastefulness with paper will
still occur
Improvements
- Having schools implement
whole-school approaches
and rules that help manage
paper waste within that
environment will encourage
the use of reducing, reusing
and recycling paper
- Hiring recycling services
alongside ‘Paper Waste
Mindfulness’ in schools
- Expanding this initiative
outside of schools and
within the local community

Success Indicators
To measure the success of the
‘Paper Waste Mindfulness’
program, a series of success
indicators will be seen within the
school
These success indicators include;
- Less paper being printed on
- Paper recycling bins hold only paper and
cardboard
- Regular rubbish bins are found without
paper in them
- Spare sheets of paper are not found
lying around classrooms
- Students and educators have an
understanding of the issues surrounding
paper waste
- Students and educators actively try to
produce less waste
- Schools and the local community
working together to be sustainable